Black Day
by tentsubasa
Summary: A tale of laughter, tears, cameras, and noodles. This is the true Single's Awareness Day. Good or bad? Who can say? But Kahoko Hino will find out without delay. (Sorry, for some reason I was in a rhyming mood.)


**Yes! It's done! After like…three years, it's finally done! But oh my goodness, I have never had so much trouble uploading a story before in my life. (x . x) For some reason the doc manager decided to remove all my formatting, and no matter what I did to the original Word doc, it just kept spazzing. (x . x) Then I couldn't think of a summary; apologies for the super lame one I eventually came up with by the way. And finally, I realized that I needed a cover so I threw one together really fast. I'm just glad Najika and Daichi from _Kitchen Princess_ happen to look a lot like Kahoko and Kazuki with inverted hair coloring in that panel; it saved me a lot of time trying to find a comparable picture. So as a result this story went from being about...26 hours late to 32 hours late to what we have now which is about 35 hours after April 14. Well, at least it's up now!  
**

**This is based very heavily off of Akane's special chapter at the very end of **_**Kitchen Princess**_**. I had to change around circumstances and add dialogue and stuff, but the basic plot and a decent amount of the dialogue are still intact. Hope you like it!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own **_**Kiniro no Corda**_**, **_**Kitchen Princess**_**, or any of their affiliates.**

* * *

"This is unbelievable!" a slim girl with red tresses sighed in exasperation as she glanced at her cell phone for the fifth time.

"_They're late. Every single last one of them is late! Normally _I'm _the one who's running late!_" Kahoko sighed as she stirred her straw around in circles in her iced tea. She, Mio, Nao, and Fuyuumi-chan had been planning this outing for weeks. "_And they're late!_"

"Couples," she heaved another sigh as she checked her cell phone again. She put her phone down and absently stirred her iced tea some more. Ever since all of her friends had found boyfriends things had radically changed.

"_There are so many romantic days for couples: Christmas in December, Valentine's Day in February, and White Day in March._" As she thought of each holiday, she thought of how each of her friends had found love and as a result, had stopped investing as much time in their friendship.

First to go had been Mio. At Christmas, Hihara-senpai's friend, Tsukasa Hasegawa, had stammered out his confession of love. While Hasegawa-senpai's confession was adorable, the romantic development took Nao and Kahoko completely by surprise. They had no idea that either of them was interested in the other. Apparently in addition to seeing each other every so often at school, they also lived not too far away from one another, so they ran into each other from time to time. Kahoko suppressed a grin. What surprised _her_ was that Mio had managed to not go on and on about Hasegawa-senpai the minute she started developing a crush on him!

Next had been Fuyuumi-chan on Valentine's Day. She felt the corners of her mouth turn up slightly. It had been obvious to anyone watching that the shy girl had a crush on the angel-faced Keiichi Shimizu. She herself actually had had a fairly heavy hand in the clarinetist's Valentine's Day confession. She had been so happy when Fuyuumi-chan told her that Shimizu-kun had accepted her chocolate and asked her out on a date for the following afternoon. She frowned slightly. Unfortunately, since he had left to go to Germany a few days ago, they had been spending practically every spare minute of time together since Valentine's Day. She couldn't blame them for wanting to maximize their limited time together, but she still missed her timid friend.

Kahoko shook her head as she gave her iced tea another stir. But none of the other two girls could top Nao's recently blossoming romance. She just couldn't get over it. It was like some kind of manga or something! Even before Kahoko and Nao knew each other, apparently Nao and Junnosuke Sasaki, Tsuchiura-kun's friend and their former classmate, had been friends. It turned out that back in elementary school, Nao had secretly given Sasaki-kun some chocolate, but she never received anything back until a little over a week ago. About a week before White Day, Nao had been surprised with a white ticket to go and see her favorite band along with instructions to meet her secret admirer at the South Entrance of the concert venue at 5pm on March 14th. It had taken a lot of convincing, but eventually she and Mio had managed to get the somewhat cautious Nao to go meet the secret admirer. There, Sasaki-kun revealed himself and explained that it had taken him all those years to figure out who had given him those chocolates, so this was his apology for it taking him so long and his White Day gift too. Kahoko took a sip of her iced tea. While they weren't official yet, she suspected they were heading in that general direction. The last couple of days, every time she called her friend, she was hanging out with him.

She sighed and gazed aimlessly out the window. Yes, all of her friends had managed to find love. She rested her chin on her palm as she thought ironically, "_And I'm a million miles away from love_."

The door opened with a cheerful ring of bells.

"Kaho-senpai!" A petite, glass-green-haired girl with pink eyes rushed over to her friend. "I-I'm so s-sorry, Kaho-senpai! I was so d-distracted because Shimizu-kun hadn't called to tell me about his preliminary results from his audition and I c-completely neglected to notice the time!" The girl looked ready to burst into tears. She was such a terrible friend. After Kaho-senpai had worked so hard to find a time they could all meet, she had to come half an hour late!

"It's ok, Fuyuumi-chan," Kahoko assured the almost hysterical musician. She gave her a sympathetic smile. Who could possibly stay irritated after an apology like that? "I understand, so please calm down." She laughed a little. "Besides, you're the first one here."

As if on cue, the other two burst through the door with similar apologies for their tardiness.

"I'm so sorry! Tsukasa-senpai and I hit really bad traffic on the way here! Eventually, he told me to leave him, so I ran the rest of the way," Mio explained with heavy breaths as she slumped into her seat.

"And Sasaki's dog needed to be rushed to the vet," Nao added as she took a seat too. "Sorry!" she apologized, putting her hands together and inclining her dark head over them.

Kahoko shook her head and smiled. "It's ok. I suppose it serves me right, considering that I've always been late for just about everything else."

The others laughed a little although they still felt bad.

"Actually, when you two walked in, we were talking about Shimizu-kun. I guess he just got the results from some kind of audition," Kahoko explained, wanting to diffuse some of the guilty tension in the group.

"Oh! Really?" Mio brightened, seizing the conversation topic. "How is he liking Germany, Fuyuumi-chan?"

Kahoko leaned back, satisfied that the girls seemed to be enjoying themselves, all discomfort forgotten. "_Germany, huh?_" she thought. "_Amazing…all of them are amazing._" With a sigh, she reflected on the other concours participants from four years ago.

As mentioned previously, Shimizu-kun had gone off to Germany to study at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Hannover. As a second-year college student, it was a great opportunity for him. He had been noticed by one of the professors in one of his classes the previous year and had been invited to the school. Now he was off to study there for the next couple of years.

Kahoko looked over at Fuyuumi-chan just as she blushed. "_And to top off his luck, Fuyuumi-chan will be joining him at the same school at the end of the school year. The boy leads a charmed life for sure. He won't even have to worry about choosing between love and work! Although,_" her golden eyes softened as she saw how happy the girl looked when she talked about her boyfriend, "_anyone with eyes can see that there is only one thing more important to Shimizu-kun than his cello, and that's Fuyuumi-chan._"

Back in high school, Tsukimori-kun had also gone off to Europe, but to Vienna, not Germany. He had risen quickly and was now a standing member of a famous orchestra. Despite the distance, they had kept in touch, and he had even introduced her to his old violin teacher back in her freshman year of college.

Since Tsuchiura-kun was also a music prodigy, many had expected him to travel to the continent as well, but competitive as always, he decided to stay local and prove that one can gain international fame without going to train in Europe. And so far, he'd been doing just that. Even while juggling school, he had become a successful recording artist and was on his way to becoming one of the more sought-after concert pianists in Japan.

Yunoki-senpai had gotten into the Keio University School of Business, so he was still fairly local, at least, much more local than America! It sounded like he was doing well there and was interested in the subject. He was apparently involved in a community orchestra as well, so he hadn't cut off all ties to music. She was glad for him. She wanted him to be happy with the life that had been laid out for him.

But in her mind, none of them could top Hihara-senpai. He had become a movie star. While they were in college, he had started doing some modeling and acting on the side to help fund his studies, and about halfway through his second year, he was given the opportunity to seriously pursue an acting career. She still remembered how much he had struggled with that decision. In the end, while he loved music, he had to admit that he probably wasn't going to pursue a professional music career like the others, so he took it. He almost always did musical roles, so he still got to play his trumpet as much as he wanted, which had made them both happy.

"_They're all moving toward their dreams._" Looking a bit ruefully at her drink, she gave an almost inaudible sigh. "_I can't help but feel a bit like I've been left behind…._"

As she finished that melancholy thought, a phone began to ring. The conversation paused as everyone simultaneously shuffled through her purse to figure out whose phone was ringing. In surprise, Kahoko found the lights blinking on her phone and flipped it open.

"Who is it?" Nao asked, spearing a strawberry off her mixed fruit tart with her fork.

"Not sure," she replied with a furrowed brow, "I don't recognize the number."

"Pick it up, Kaho-chan," Mio smiled.

"Y-yes…after all," Shouko stated in embarrassment, "it's our fault for being late…."

Patting her hand reassuringly, Kahoko clicked the pick-up button and placed the phone to her ear. "Hello?"

"Hello? Kaho-chan?" A familiar male voice came through the earpiece.

"Hi-Hihara-senpai?!" she exclaimed in surprise.

"Yup!" He paused for a second before asking, "Is now not a good time?"

"Oh! No!" she shook her head as the other girls buzzed in curiosity. Why had she been contacted by the elusive movie star? "It's just been a while since we last talked, and I didn't recognize the number," she explained. "I didn't expect it to be you."

"Oh! Sorry about that! Because of the weird way the networks are over here, I had to get a different phone. I must've forgotten to text my number to people."

"It's fine, senpai. Now I know," she reassured him. His remorse for his oversight practically radiated out of the phone. Leaning her chin on her free hand, she smiled and asked, "So how are you, Hihara-senpai? It's been awhile." She couldn't help but be curious; it had been almost a month since she had last had any contact with him, and probably a good three months since they had last talked on the phone.

"I'm doing well, but guess what?" he grinned. "I just got cast for a new movie that's based on the 'Violin Romance' legend at Seiso! Can you believe it? Of all things!"

"What?! Really?!" She waved off the others' curious looks and focused on her call. "That's so cool! I can't wait to see it! Will you be the main character?" She was puzzled by the little pinprick of discomfort at the thought, but before she could examine it more closely, it became a moot point.

"No. Can't play violin, y'know," he grinned. "I'm just one of the other contestants: the main guy's best friend who helps him work through his feelings."

"I see," she nodded. "Makes sense; your last violin lesson was…about 10 seconds back in high school?" she joked.

"Yeah, something like that," he responded with a warm laugh; it felt really good to hear her voice again. "But anyway, I'll be coming back in about a month. The director wanted to potentially film some scenes at the school or at least model some of the sets after it, so I'm tagging along to play tour guide and visit."

He flushed and fidgeted, trying to up his confidence. Okay, now came the hard part. How was it that after all this time, she was the one thing that could make his stomach tie itself into knots? Trying to sound as nonchalant as possible he asked, "So, umm, if, well, if it's, umm, okay with you…" he bit his lip nervously and mentally kicked himself. Fail. Complete and utter nonchalance fail.

He took another deep breath and gave himself a pep talk. "_Come on, Kazuki. You can do this! You're an actor. In your last movie, you delivered way sappier lines than this at the camera smooth as a cucumber. You have rehearsed this conversation _hundreds_ of times. There is absolutely no reason to be stumbling over your words!_" Minus that he was about to ask the girl he had loved for the last four years out on a date, but you know, no big deal. Shoving that last part unceremoniously out of his mind, he went for it. "When I come," he cleared his throat and hoped against hope, "why don't I treat you to dinner sometime?"

"Huh?" Her face went blank. "Why?"

Okay, it wasn't a, "No"; that was definitely a good sign. He breathed an inaudible sigh of relief and calmed down a little. The worst was over. He could handle it from here. Leaning against a wall, he pointed out, "Well, for one thing, you helped me a lot when I was trying to decide whether to go into acting or stay in college." His eyes and voice softened. "But I also want to thank you for all you did for me back in high school. Between the third and fourth selection, I was having a really hard time, but you came and encouraged me. I never got to thank you properly then." His voice was warm as he stated, "Knowing that you were trying your best made me not want to lose to you, so I worked really hard. You've been a huge source of inspiration and encouragement to me, Kaho-chan."

"Oh," she responded in a small voice, her cheeks stained pink. Never in her dreams would she have believed that anyone thought of her like that.

"Besides," she could almost see him shooting her that killer, winsome smile of his that always made her heart feel a little funny, "we haven't seen each other in ages."

She smiled. "True."

"So how about it?" Then in a comical, imploring voice, he wheedled, "Please? For old time's sake?"

Giggling at his silliness, she beamed, "When you ask like that, how can I refuse?" Her eyes unconsciously gentled. "I'd love to have dinner with you, Hihara-senpai."

"Good! I can't wait!" He cheered happily on the inside and did a little victory dance. Success! Hearing an assistant calling his name, he apologized, "Sorry to cut this short, but I need to get back to the set. I promise I'll make it up to you when I visit."

"It's fine senpai; I know you're busy. I'm looking forward to seeing you soon! Bye!"

"Bye!"

"So I take it Hihara-senpai is coming home to visit?" Nao asked as her friend put away her phone.

"Yup!" she grinned.

"It's been quite a long time hasn't it?" Shouko murmured softly.

"About…" Kahoko counted, "ten months, I think."

"Isn't this fabulous timing, Kaho-chan?!" Mio exclaimed in starry-eyed excitement.

"Huh?"

Nao and Shouko looked at each other in amusement/trepidation. "_Here we go again._"

"It's finally your turn to find love!" She sighed in rapture. "After all these years, the Violin Romance will come to pass!"

"Mio…" Kahoko gave her tan-haired friend a look that was a mixture of exasperated and indulgent with just the barest hint of regretful flirting around the edges, "it's not like that; he just wanted to catch up over dinner with an old friend."

"Is anyone else coming along on this dinner?" she persisted.

"Well…I suppose not…."

"Then it's a date!" she squealed in delight.

"It's not a date!" Kahoko crossed her arms over her flaming face in a big X. "He said he just wanted to thank me for helping him out with stuff back in high school and college."

"But-"

"Oh leave her alone, Mio," Nao intervened, finally deciding to cut her friend some slack. "Honestly," she teased with a lazy wave of her hand, "you can smell romance in the middle of a three-car pileup."

"That's so mean Nao-chan!"

"Ah…uh-umm…s-speaking of our senpai," Shouko piped up hesitantly, "h-how are Hasegawa-senpai's studies going, Takato-senpai?"

When the others successfully got Mio off her back, Kahoko breathed a small sigh of relief before laughing a little. As always, Mio was a hopeless romantic, calling, "Fire," if there was the barest hint of smoke.

When she bid good-bye to her friends later, she slung her purse over her shoulder and smiled in excitement. "_Wow! I guess he's coming home soon!_" She clutched the handle of her violin case in determination. "_Then I'll work hard too._" Her dream was to become a music teacher and show others the life-altering beauty of music, so as soon as she got home, she hit the books.

Over the next couple weeks, she worked hard studying, playing, and pushing herself to improve. Every time she was tempted to give up or slack off, she remembered Kazuki's promise and found the strength to persevere. "_When he comes back, I don't want to be the only one who hasn't changed._"

The following day, one of her professors asked her to stay after class. "How do you feel about your first student teaching session, Hino-san? I noticed you've been working hard recently."

She blushed and stated in embarrassment, "I probably should have been working this hard all along, especially with the student teaching coming up." Biting her lip nervously, she admitted, "I just hope I'm ready."

"If you keep it up, I have no doubts that you'll do well."

"Thank you!" she beamed. Kitamura-sensei was difficult to please. Receiving praise from her was extremely rare.

"Actually," the older woman frowned slightly, "I need to speak with you about your student teaching session. Something's come up."

"What is it?" Kahoko asked, feeling a small ball of dread curl up in her stomach. She hoped it hadn't gotten cancelled; this could really mess up her graduation!

"So the school has recently gotten the opportunity to be featured in a television spot on Nikkori TV, and they're hoping to film the day you're student teaching."

"Oh!" This was certainly out of the blue. "Does that mean they'll be filming my session?"

"In theory, yes."

Now she felt extra nervous. If she messed up, it would be on display for who knows how many people to see!

"Don't worry, Hino-san; I'm sure you'll do fine. Besides, it's not live, so you may not even end up in the final footage."

"Oh, okay." She could breathe again. She bowed. "Thank you for telling me about this sensei. I would've been so self-conscious if I had been put in front of a camera with no warning."

"Well…you may not be in front of a camera at all; it's only a possibility."

"Huh?" Now she was getting confused. "But you just said that they'd be filming my session."

"I said that they _might_ be filming your session," she corrected. "In truth, there's a moderately high possibility that they won't film the school at all."

Kahoko looked at her professor in bewilderment. "If that's the case, then, if you don't mind my asking, why bother telling me?"

"Actually," she surveyed her with piercing hazel eyes, "I was thinking maybe you could help them cement this TV spot."

"Me?!" She looked aghast. "What can I do?"

"You see, due to an injury, the original host for the show had to bow out last week, so the studio called to cancel."

"Uh huh."

"But the school really needs the publicity, so they volunteered to try and find a replacement." The blonde-haired woman gave her a sidelong glance. "I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but the school will have to shut down if it can't attract more students for next year."

"That's terrible!" She felt so bad for them.

"It is," she agreed. "After unsuccessfully trying to recruit famous alumni that could help out, the headmaster asked if I could use any of my influence to get someone." She looked directly at Kahoko. "If I'm not mistaken, you know a fair number of famous musicians, yes?"

"Ah…" she hesitated, "It's true that I do know them…but they're so busy these days, and I've lost touch with some of them…."

"I see…" her professor replied regretfully. "Then I suppose I shall have to phone the headmaster and tell her there's nothing we can do."

"Oh…" she answered in a small voice. Oh, the guilt. The overwhelming guilt. It didn't take long before she caved. Trying to sound more confident than she felt, she chirped, "Why don't I ask? I'm sure I can find someone."

Kitamura-sensei beamed. "Wonderful!" Without missing a beat, she suggested, "Why not see if Len Tsukimori or his mother are available? You two are good friends, I've heard."

"Oh! Yeah!" She brightened up considerably, grateful to have a starting point. "I'll try them first."

She walked home with a light step. While she would have to call in a world of favors to get Tsukimori-kun to be a host for a TV show, his mother was much more congenial. I mean, she'd convince him to do it if she had to since having either one of them put in a word for the school would really boost its image, but Hamai-san was bound to be a much better sport about it than Tsukimori-kun. And she was pretty sure Tsukimori-kun had said that they'd be seeing each other soon. So all she'd have to do was give Tsukimori-kun a call and she could go right back to focusing on preparing for her class. Easy as pie.

Except she couldn't get a hold of either of them.

Punctuated by banging her head into her pillow she asked aloud in disgust, "Why…didn't…I…remember…that…they're…on…tour…togeth er?!" She was so stupid! Saying that they were going to see each other soon didn't necessarily mean that it was going to be in Japan!

Flopping onto her bed, she wracked her brains. Who else could she ask? Sliding her eyes over to her picture of the former concours participants, she bolted upright as her gaze fell on a friendly face with tousled, olive-green hair. "_Of course!_" she thought excitedly, "_Hihara-senpai is going to be in town!_" But then a thought put a damper on her mood. "_What if he's already busy that day?_" Shaking her head to dispel the cloud of uncertainty, she grabbed her phone. She had to try.

She waited anxiously as the phone rang once, twice, three times, four times, five times, si-"Hi Kaho-chan, hold on a second." In the background, she could hear Kazuki asking the director for a five-minute break. At the director's affirmative, he cheerfully spoke into the phone. "Hi Kaho-chan! How're you?"

"I…I'm doing well, Hihara-senpai. Umm…how about you?" For some reason, she had no idea how to ask him about the show.

"Super busy, but it's good." He grinned, brushing his bangs slightly out of his face. "Oh! Guess what? They just asked me to be the host of a new TV show! I'll get to travel around the world and see all these famous concert halls and interview famous musicians. Isn't that awesome?!" Suddenly seeming to remember himself, he apologized, "I'm really sorry, Kaho-chan, but with this new show, I guess I won't be coming back to Japan anytime soon."

Her heart stopped. "_What?_" Her hands began to shake inexplicably. "But…but…we were going to have dinner together…" she mumbled.

Not hearing her, he asked, "So, umm…what did you call about?"

"Ah…" she paused for a second. She couldn't tell him about the TV spot now. "N-no reason," she responded woodenly. "I, umm, just wanted to see what you were up to. Well…have a good night, Hihara-senpai…."

"Wait, Kaho-chan, are you sure? You sound kind of fun-"

She hung up the phone and buried her face in her pillow. When her phone rang again, she pressed it more snugly to her ears. As Kazuki anxiously listened to her voicemail message, she blinked back the tears that had unexpectedly surfaced. "_That's not what I wanted to hear…._"

The following morning after her classes, she paid a visit to another old friend from Seiso Academy.

"Tsuchiura-kun?" she called out as she knocked on the door. The door creaked open. As she poked her head in, she took a cursory sweep of the space. It was filthy. When her eyes landed on a tall, dark-green-haired figure sprawled facedown over a table, she rushed into the room. "Tsuchiura-kun!" Quickly shaking him, she was relieved to find that he was just sleeping.

"Huh…Hino?" Ryoutaro blinked a few times to clear his bleary vision. "What're you doing here?" he asked with a huge yawn.

"Well…." She quickly explained her predicament before poking her index fingers together nervously and timidly concluding, "I guess you can't help me either." She should've known just by looking at him. He looked like he hadn't had a decent meal or a good night's rest for days. His clothes were wrinkled; his hair was untidy; there were score sheets all over the table and takeout containers filled the trashcans.

With an apologetic smile, he shook his head. "The deadline for my new studio album is that day, and by the time it's done, I'm going to be completely exhausted." At her glum nod, he suggested, "Why don't you ask Kanayan for a list of alumni you can call? Maybe one of them can help you."

Perking up, she smiled. "That's a great idea! I'll get on that right away!" Bowing quickly, she added, "Good luck with your album! I'm really sorry for waking you."

With a smile, he replied, "Don't worry about it. I needed to get back to work anyway. Good luck with your search!"

With a nod and a wave, she quickly set out to get that list.

When she got home that night, she looked at the list in determination. "_I can do this._"

A couple of days went by with no luck. "_I'm sure I can do this._"

Another few days. "_I know I can._"

She got to the end of the list with two days left before the class and no celebrity host. Staring at her list in misery, she finally admitted to herself, "_I failed._"

As she walked toward the school later that day, dread formed an icy ball in the pit of her stomach. What would she tell Yamashita-rijichou and Kitamura-sensei? I mean, obviously she had to tell them that she couldn't find anyone, but all those poor children…. Her phone buzzed, pulling her away from her depressing thoughts. But when she saw the number, her already gloomy mood sank even lower. Her eyes dimmed in pain as she rejected the call. She didn't want to talk to him. What would be the point? This was her problem and she had to figure out a way to fix it. Taking a deep breath, she strode up to the front of the school. Time to face the music.

The day of the recording had come.

As she stood with the headmaster, she chewed her lip nervously, rehearsing the lie she had decided to tell the TV crew. "_I'm sorry, I had arranged for someone to come, but she became ill this morning. Would it be possible to use the headmaster as the host instead? We're so sorry for the inconvenience, but she's the most knowledgeable about the school, and it seems a shame for you to have come all this way for nothing._" When the door opened, she tensed. Here they came.

As the director of the panel strolled up, he smiled warmly and greeted the headmaster. "Hello, Yamashita-san." He pulled out a business card and offered it to her. "I'm Hiroshi Nobunaga. Thank you for having us today."

"The pleasure is ours, Nobunaga-san," they both bowed. Motioning to Kahoko, the dark-haired woman introduced, "This is Kahoko Hino, one of our student teachers. She's the one who found a host for us today."

The black-haired man grinned. "Wonderful! Thank you so much, Hino-san."

"Ah…" she gulped and squeezed out a weak smile, "n-no, th-thank you for the opportunity."

Chalking up her unsteady voice to nerves, the man smiled reassuringly at her. "I'm sure you'll do great; it's our job to try and be as unobtrusive as possible." He winked. "I promise we won't broadcast anything embarrassing." Looking around in curiosity, he asked, "Now that I think of it, who is your guest?"

Her face turned slightly pale. "Oh, umm…."

As she opened her mouth to lie, she stilled. "_I wonder…if this is alright…. Even if it's for a good cause…is lying and cheating like this…._" Kazuki's face filled her vision as she remembered their conversation about why he had gone into acting. "_No!_" The honesty and willingness to take the consequences of his actions made her ashamed of herself. "_No!_" As the faces of her friends flashed before her eyes, she closed her mouth. "_I can't do this!_" She could still beg them to let Yamashita-rijichou be the host, but to pretend that she had allowed them to be drawn here under anything but false pretenses was unforgivable! She took a step back and bowed deeply in apology. "I-I'm sorry but I-"

"Kaho-chaaaaan!" a voice breathlessly called out from the front door. "How could you forget to tell me where to go?! I thought I was gonna be late!"

As she shot up, her mouth fell open in shock. "_Hihara-senpai?!_" She couldn't believe her eyes. He was here. Hihara-senpai was here. "_No way…._"

Apparently she wasn't the only one who was floored. "Kazuki Hihara?! Oh man! My girlfriend and I are huge fans!" Scrambling around for a scrap of paper, Nobunaga-san eagerly asked, "May I have an autograph?"

As Kazuki wrote personalized messages for everyone on the crew, Kahoko gawked at him. It couldn't be…he was supposed to be overseas still. But here he was. What was he doing here?! When he finally turned to her, her voice decided it wanted to start working again. "Hi-Hihara-senpai…." She stared at him as if she were seeing a ghost. "But…but why…?"

"Tsuchiura told me you were in trouble," he replied simply, his eyes a swirling whirlpool of mixed emotions.

She shook her head and tugged him to the side. "That's not what I meant!" Looking around, she motioned for him to follow her into her classroom so they'd have a little more privacy. "What about your show? I thought you said you wouldn't have time to come back to Japan."

He looked away before confessing, "I…I turned down the offer to do the show."

Her eyes went round. "Why? You were so excited about it!"

His face reddened as he stared at the opposite wall even harder. "That's true…but…" he cleared his throat uncomfortably, "since that day…you haven't picked up your phone once. I must've called—I can't even remember how many times anymore—but you never picked up." Voice choked with emotion, he finally managed to meet her gaze. "And I…I just couldn't stand it anymore. I wanted to hear your voice. I just _had_ to see you."

Her eyes widened as his words washed over her. "_When he said he didn't have time to come back to Japan, I was so sad…I couldn't help but cry._" He looked at her in concern as they filled again. "_That's probably because…._"

"I-I wanted t-to see you too, senpai," she admitted with a sniffle. "I-I wanted to see you so badly…" she confessed, the tears pouring more freely as she tried in vain to keep them from flowing.

His eyes softened as he walked toward her. "_Kaho-chan…._"

"Oh no! My-my make-up is coming off."

"_Please don't cry._" He reached out his hand.

"My-my first time on t-television and I'm going to look like a total wreck!"

Closing his eyes, he bent down and pressed his lips lightly to hers, his free hand resting on her arm.

Kahoko's tears evaporated instantly as complete and utter astonishment took their place. Hihara-senpai had just stolen her first kiss. Was she dreaming? Could this really be happening?

As he pulled away, she returned his lidded gaze with a wide-eyed one. For a moment or two, they simply stood like that, until he suddenly gasped, his face turning bright cherry-red. Jumping back, he panicked, "Wh-wh-wh-wh-what are you d-d-doing?!"

She blinked in surprise before an indignant flush crossed her cheeks. "Wha-what do you mean what am _I_ doing?!" she cried. "You're-you're the one who—sh-shouldn't I be the one asking that?!"

Wildly flailing his arms as if to stave off her accusing words, he stammered, "I-I couldn't help it! You just, you just looked so cute right then-" He slapped his hands over his mouth as her cheeks flamed a dark crimson.

They stood there in extremely uncomfortable embarrassed silence until Kazuki eventually decided to break the ice. "Hey Kaho-chan…" he bit his lip, "do you know what day it is?"

She looked at him in surprise. "Umm…April 14th?"

He nodded. "Yeah, Black Day."

"Black Day?"

"I, umm, I learned about it when I was in Korea." He ran his fingers through his hair and explained, "Over there, they have Valentine's Day, White Day, and then Black Day on April 14th. Those who didn't have their love lives together by then wear black clothes and console each other while eating a noodle dish called jajangmyeon; it's noodles mixed with black bean paste."

She looked at him in confusion. This was interesting, but what did it have to do with anything?

He stammered, "We may not be wearing black, but I…I still owe you dinner. Why, umm, why don't we get some jajangmyeon after you're done? Since we're, uh, both, umm, single, we can eat it together and hope that our luck will be better this year, or something." By the end of the sentence, his voice had gotten very small and his face had reached a whole new level of scarlet.

"Oh..." she blushed. Hesitantly smiling at him, she shyly responded, "That…that sounds like fun, Hihara-senpai. I've never had jajangmyeon before." Suddenly thinking of something, she brightly asked, "Umm…senpai, since we have trumpets here, would you like to do a duet as a treat for the kids?"

His grin stretched from ear-to-ear as he eagerly nodded. "That sounds like a great idea!" Coming home had definitely been the best decision he'd ever made. Not only did he get to have dinner with Kaho-chan, but they also got to play together again for the first time since college!

While they prepped for their impromptu duet, Kahoko found herself watching him out of the corner of her eye. "_Hihara-senpai is kind of loud and hyper and he doesn't seem that sure of himself sometimes, but…_" her face softened, "_he's warm and kind, and being with him is comfortable. We like so many of the same things and it's always easy to talk to him about anything…._" A light blush suffused her cheeks as she admitted to herself, "_I really missed being with him._"

As the last note rang out, Kazuki opened his eyes excitedly. "That sounded amazing Kaho-chan! I'm so glad we get to perform together like this again!"

Kahoko nodded enthusiastically in agreement. She was getting really pumped for her lesson. Who cares if there were going to be cameras filming her? She felt ready to take on the world.

Her eyes softened as they fell on her companion. And it was all because of him. With a shy smile, she looked up at him from under her lashes. "Umm…senpai…?"

"Hmm?"

"Umm…" roses bloomed across her face, "I think…maybe there won't be a Black Day next year," she murmured quietly.

His eyes widened before warming in a way that made her heart flutter. "Me too."

As he took her hand to lead her out to set things up with the crew, she smiled happily. "_Yeah…no more Black Day._" She looked down at their entwined fingers. "_From now on, I'll have someone to spend all the romantic holidays with too._"

* * *

**And, that's the end. Wow, I did not expect it to be this long, but I guess it works. For some reason, it felt a little off to me though I'm not sure why. Maybe it was my transitions or maybe I got Kahoko and Akane a little too mixed up. Who knows? *shrugs*  
**

**Soo...happy belated single awareness day or something. I guess Black Day is actually supposed to serve that function. (^^;) I'm not sure if it's a good or bad thing at this point, but since Kazuki and Kahoko won't be celebrating Black Day next year, I guess it's okay. =)**


End file.
